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Topic: Alcohol Causes More Harm Than Heroin (Read 1626 times)

According to a new study from a former UK chief drugs adviser, alcohol is more harmful to users and to wider society than heroin or crack, and all three are far more harmful than cannabis, ecstasy, or magic mushrooms.

David Nutt, a psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist who was fired from his position as the British government's chief adviser on drugs after releasing a similar drug-ranking study, put together the numbers for this study by giving each drug a score in categories like mental damage, physical damage, addictive qualities, contributions to crime, costs the economy, and harm to communities.

And, surprise surprise, alcohol came out on top! Even though booze didn't rank among the top three for harm to one's self—heroin, crack and methylamphetamine took those spots—its harm to others score was so high that when the two were combined, it took the top spot of the entire survey with a whopping 72. Heroin came in next, with a score of 55, while crack scored 54.

Taken literally, this seems to indicate that Special K and X aren't all that bad compared to booze.

But you gotta take the "harm to others" part of the equasion into account. Having known folks with mean drunks as parents, I can pretty much see where this report is coming from. Because drinking is socally acceptable you can maintain your position in society as long as you are a "functional" drunk.

The average tweaker is only gonna harm himself because he is too marginalized to do anything else.